This outline addresses key development components of a standard NSF proposal; however, it does not address all elements required to complete the application or budget. Be sure to refer to the program solicitation applicable to your proposal and the application instructions in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG).
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Required; limited to 15 pages unless otherwise specified in the program solicitation
From the PAPPG (NSF 2022-1):
The Project Description should provide a clear statement of the work to be undertaken and must include the objectives for the period of the proposed work, expected significance, and the relationship of this work to the present state of knowledge in the field, as well as to work in progress by the PI under other support.
The Project Description should outline the general plan of work, including the broad design of activities to be undertaken, and, where appropriate, provide a clear description of experimental methods and procedures. Proposers should address what they want to do, why they want to do it, how they plan to do
it, how they will know if they succeed, and what benefits could accrue if the project is successful. The project activities may be based on previously established and/or innovative methods and approaches, but in either case must be well justified. These issues apply to both the technical aspects of the proposal and the way in which the project may make broader contributions.
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Broader Impacts
From the PAPPG (NSF 2022-1):
This section should provide a discussion of the broader impacts of the proposed activities. Broader impacts may be accomplished through the research itself, through the activities that are directly related to specific research projects, or through activities that are supported by, but are complementary to the project. NSF values the advancement of scientific knowledge and activities that contribute to the achievement of societally relevant outcomes. Such outcomes include, but are not limited to: full participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); improved STEM education and educator development at any level; increased public scientific literacy and public engagement with science and technology; improved well-being of individuals in society; development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce; increased partnerships between academia, industry, and others; improved national security; increased economic competitiveness of the U.S.; use of science and technology to inform public policy; and enhanced infrastructure for research and education. These examples of societally relevant outcomes should not be considered either comprehensive or prescriptive. Proposers may include appropriate outcomes not covered by these examples.
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Required; justification limited to 5 pages
- See PAPPG (NSF 2022-1) Chapter II.C.g for NSF's full budget guidelines and instructions, including the "NSF 2-month rule," which limits salary compensation for senior personnel to no more than two months of their regular salary in any one year across all NSF grants.
- Use of the SU Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) Budget Template is required by the campus community to develop and submit budgets consistent with the University’s currently negotiated rates. Use of the OSP Budget Template greatly reduces common arithmetic errors often encountered with other budget tools.
- In the Maxwell School, your contact person in OSP for assistance with your budget and other technical documents, and for submitting your application, is Caroline McMullin (cmcmulli@syr.edu). Depending on your academic department or research center, the departmental administrator or budget manager might also be able to help. If you are not sure who to work with, contact Jill Ferguson (jsfergus@syr.edu).
Syracuse Resources
- OSP Budget Template
- Budget Justification Template
- OSP Budget Development Guidance - including how to include personnel costs, domestic and foreign travel costs, subcontractors and consultants, etc.
- Maxwell Research Policies and Rates
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Required; limited to 2 pages
From the PAPPG (NSF 2022-1):
This supplementary document should describe how the proposal will conform to NSF policy on the dissemination and sharing of research results (see Chapter XI.D.4), and may include:
- the types of data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, and other materials to be produced in the course of the project;
- the standards to be used for data and metadata format and content (where existing standards are absent or deemed inadequate, this should be documented along with any proposed solutions or remedies);
- policies for access and sharing including provisions for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, or other rights or requirements;
- policies and provisions for re-use, re-distribution, and the production of derivatives; and
- plans for archiving data, samples, and other research products, and for preservation of access to them.
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- Any substantial collaboration with individuals not included in the budget should be described in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of the proposal and documented in a letter of collaboration from each collaborator. The letter should follow content and format instructions provided by the NSF (see below).
- While letters of collaboration are permitted, letters of support, which are used to convey a sense of enthusiasm for a project and/or to highlight the qualifications of the PI or co-PI, are not a standard component of an NSF proposal and so should not be submitted unless required by a specific program solicitation. Proposals that contain letters of support not authorized by the program solicitation may be returned without review.
From the PAPPG (NSF 2022-1):
Letters of collaboration should be limited to stating the intent to collaborate and should not contain endorsements or evaluation of the proposed project. The recommended format for letters of collaboration is as follows:
"If the proposal submitted by Dr. [insert the full name of the Principal Investigator] entitled [insert proposal title] is selected for funding by NSF, it is my intent to collaborator and/or commit resources as detailed in the Project Description or the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of the proposal."
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Collaborators and Other Affiliations Information
Required; no page limit
- Collaborators and Other Affiliations (COA) information must be separately provided for each individual identified as senior project personnel (see NSF PAPPG, Chapter II.C.1.e.)
- The COA information must be provided through use of the COA template. The template has been developed to be fillable; however, the content and format requirements must not be altered by the user.
- Save the template in .xlsx format and directly upload into FastLane as a Collaborators and Other Affiliations Single Copy Document.